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Key Terms

A significant and long-term change in temperature,
precipitation, or wind. Climate change can happen
naturally or can be caused by human activities,
such as burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests,
or building cities.

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Toggle FavoriteRice beds provide food and shelter for numerous species of birds, fish, and other animals. 1998

Toggle Favorite“There are several threats to wild-rice productivity and the sustainability
of wild rice. One of the major threats is overdevelopment of lakes, wild-rice lakes.”

Toggle FavoriteSince the 1880s, dams have flooded wild-rice habitat
along the Mississippi River drainage. More than 2000 dams in
Minnesota and Wisconsin pose risks to wild rice plants. 1904

Toggle Favorite“Invasives also have the potential to alter the way ecosystems
function. . . . Each plant or animal has a specific function, and we as
biologists don’t necessarily know what each one of those functions
are. So we always kind generalize and say protect as much as you possibly can.”

Toggle FavoritePurple loosestrife is a beautiful but aggressive invasive species
that crowds out wild rice. Brought to North America in the 1800s for
flower gardens, it quickly spread throughout the U.S. 2006

Toggle FavoriteIf Asian carp work their way upstream to the Leech Lake reservation,
shallow-rooted rice could be damaged by their foraging, and they could
pose a threat to other fish. The damage Asian carp could do is so
serious, laws have been passed making it illegal to import them. Date unknown

Toggle Favorite“Any impact — environment, whether it’s an oil spill or an
invasive species — has greater impact here on a reservation because
it’s culturally important and also spiritually. It helps people
connect with their past, connect with their ancestors.”

Toggle FavoriteFrom the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, logging stripped the Leech
Lake area of trees, increasing sediment in lakes and rivers. Change
in sediment chemistry is thought to affect the establishment of
wild-rice plants. 1892

Toggle Favorite“Wild rice is much like the Ojibwe people are: part of their
natural world. Historically, the wild rice is also a part of its
ecosystem, intimately tied to its ecosystem. And this cultivated
rice violates that arrangement.”

If Asian carp work their way upstream to the Leech Lake reservation,
shallow-rooted rice could be damaged by their foraging, and they could
pose a threat to other fish. The damage Asian carp could do is so
serious, laws have been passed making it illegal to import them. Date unknown

From the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, logging stripped the Leech
Lake area of trees, increasing sediment in lakes and rivers. Change
in sediment chemistry is thought to affect the establishment of
wild-rice plants. 1892

“Wild rice is much like the Ojibwe people are: part of their
natural world. Historically, the wild rice is also a part of its
ecosystem, intimately tied to its ecosystem. And this cultivated
rice violates that arrangement.”